TEACHER RESIGNS AFTER SUSPENSION FOR ROLE IN SEX FILM

Anthony Vanchieri, the Broward elementary school teacher who appeared in pornographic videos, has abandoned his fight to keep his job, his attorney confirmed on Monday.

The physical education teacher at Coconut Creek Elementary quietly resigned on Sept. 9, but it was made public only this month because the Broward School Board will formally accept his request on Oct. 15.

The board suspended Vanchieri on June 18 as the first step toward firing him for "disgracing the profession." But Vanchieri said he would fight the suspension in an administrative hearing.

"They are seeking to terminate him based on actions taken in his private life which have no direct impact on his ability to teach and had nothing to do with his profession as a teacher," Vanchieri's attorney, Steve Rossi, had argued.

But since his suspension, Vanchieri decided "he's not going through this right now," Rossi said on Monday. "It has been very taxing on him."

Vanchieri still opposes any action by the state board of education to withdraw his teaching license, although he is not sure he will keep teaching, Rossi said.

Last fall, Vanchieri appeared on the TV show Temptation Island 2 as a "tempter" who tried to lure women away from their boyfriends.

But in December, allegations surfaced that an Internet Web site was selling two pornographic videos featuring Vanchieri. He was removed from his teaching position and given a desk job with no contact with children.

Vanchieri said he was hoping to further a modeling career when he went to a party last summer at a West Palm Beach mansion and took a pill that he said the video's producer gave him.

He was stunned later to find himself billed in Solo Guys, Vol. 1 as Tony the Tempter, lying nude with a man and giving the "impression ... they are about to engage in oral sex," a school district investigator reported.

At the time, Vanchieri told the investigator, "I realize people make mistakes in their lives, and I know this is a huge one that has already changed my life and my respect. ... Hopefully, it doesn't affect my professional career."